Here is the steep hill that we climb on our way to school every morning. At the bottom of the hill is the little community that we are living in. You can see the mountains in the background that surround Tegucigalpa. They help keep the temperature here temperant and cool. It´s a little community with a lot of friendly people.

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It takes a lot of patience to teach a new language to two Americans who know very little Spanish. But we have a great teacher who has that patience and willingness to help us overcome this obstacle. Her name is Oneyda, she has been teaching Spanish for seven years. She has taught people from all over the world, Korea, China, Russia, Ireland, Canada and even Japan. She said the hardest to teach were the Irish because they would get upset when they couldn´t understand stuff and say Spanish was stupid. She was very intimidated by their Irish temper. She is doing a great job at helping us, she is very sweet and is going at a good pace for us to understand well. She had previously attended a Pentecostal church but now she no longer goes to church. She said that maybe in the future she will start going to church. Today in class she asked us questions about what we believe and I had the opportunity to tell her what we believe. Pray for Oneyda that the Lord would make her hungry to know more about Him.

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Are you claustrophobic? If you are you would go nuts riding the buses here in Honduras. As you can see they love to pack these things until it about explodes. Usually every morning we ride the bus to school. We first have to walk to the bus stop, ride the bus and then continue walking to the school. The whole trip takes about 25 minutes. The bus ride is the most exciting though. You stand in the middle of the aisle, hold a rail and hang on for a wild ride. People are trying to squeeze past you to get in and out, you constantly have to keep an eye on your wallet, things can easily disapper. The other day the bus was so full we could barely move. It can be very uncomfortable having so many bodies pressing against yours. But at least it is much cheaper than a taxi.

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We have safely arrived in Honduras. It was sad saying good-bye to family but the good news is that we will see them again in two months for the exciting arrival of our little baby.

We are staying with a national family who can´t speak any english. We have taught them a few words though. They are an older retired couple, and just as sweet as sugar. They treat us just like family.

We have also been enjoying our language studies. The teachers are terrific. We attend school every morning from 8-12. Hannah´s head hurts from trying to understand everything but she is doing a great job. She has already learned a lot and this is only our second day of classes. I´m sure she will be fluent in no time.

The weather is great, there is a constant breeze and the temperature is a steady 80 degrees. It´s nice and cool in the evening, sometimes even a little chilly.

We want to say thanks for your prayers, continue to pray for us that we would quickly learn the language and begin to effectively minister to the people.

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There was excitement on our very first day in Honduras. When we arrived in Tegucigalpa and we started unboarding the plane, we had to walk down a flight of stairs and then walk into the airport. At the bottom of the flight of stairs a man was standing talking to military officials. We wondered who this important person could be. We walked inside the airport and there was a group of reporters and camera men awaiting this man´s arrival. The area was taped off so we couldn´t get real close. All of a sudden this man walks in and takes a seat at a desk. We began to ask people standing around who this man was, they told us it was the president. We have since found out that he is not the president but actually the vice president. He arrived on our same flight and sat just a few rows away from us. It sure is a small world. It made our arrival very exciting!

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Friday, March 24 we leave for Honduras. It's hard to believe that the time has finally come. We want to thank all of our friends and family for your support and prayers. God has blessed us so much. We are excited, nervous, uncertain all at the same time but God has promised us, He will never leave us nor forsake us. We hope to keep blogging once we get to Honduras and keep everyone updated on how things are going. By the sounds of it, we are going to hit the ground running with lots of things to do. Keep us in your prayers!

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They made it!! We are so proud of Hannah's mom and sister who just graduated from the National Institute of Technology with a degree in Business and Clinical Specialist. They worked hard over the past year, traveling an hour one way, four days a week for their classes. They've been committed and they have made it!! We are so proud of them. Congratulations!

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During our stay in Hobe Sound we were introduced to a new friend. Tamara Mahoney teaches english as a second language as part of her ministry and right now she is working with a Palestinian lady from Israel, her name is Reem. We got a chance to visit with Reem as she and Hannah conversed back and forth in Arabic. She is a Muslim but as we talked we realized that the Lord is softening her heart. Reem has invited us back the next time we are in Florida for an Arabic meal, we may just have to take her up on that. Something I found interesting was that she used to have family in Honduras!! Pray for Reem that she would become open to the truth.

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One thing I am very excited about in going to Honduras is the delicious fruits and juices that are available. Two years ago on a missions trip to Honduras we discovered a type of banana that I had never had before in my life. They were absolutely incredible! The stock I'm holding in this picture was quickly devoured by our group of young people. This time that we go I won't have to share with so many people. haha. I hope to hang one of these stocks in my kitchen someday. I have never forgotten their incredible taste.

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Sunday night was our last deputation service. We presented to the congregation our goals of what we would like to see accomplished in Honduras. I mentioned that with this being our last service we still needed to raise 30 shares ( a share is a pledge of $10 a month ). At the end of the service after we were commissioned and many nice things were said to us, the report was given...a total of 69 shares were pledged!! How exciting. Our goal was met. It was a big encouragement to us.

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It will soon be a year ago that Hannah and I made a trip to Jordan. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Here are some of the highlights. Amsterdam, Holland-- sitting near Moses' spring where the Israelites camped prior to entering the Promised Land-- my first baptism, in the Jordan river.

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We are home for the weekend! What is it that makes home so special? You can travel the world, see all kinds of sights and meet all kinds of people but there is still that deep longing that arises within the soul that says, I just need to go home for awhile. I need some familiar faces. We get that privilidge this weekend!! It's great.

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The Kingdom Heirs were here in concert. They wowed the crowd with their deep base and high tenor. They were actually pretty good and emotionally contained. They were nominated this past year as 2005 band of the year. Nine months out of the year they sing at Dollywood theme park in Tennesse. They were a bunch of great guys.

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We have been officially commissioned by Hope International Missions to the country of Honduras. It was an exciting service. People here in Hobe Sound are thrilled about what we are going to do. Many have come to us and told us they will be praying for us and many have also pledged their financial support. Nearly $800 was given in our commissioning service. It's time to go win the world.

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About

We are working in Tegucigalpa, Honduras with Hope International Missions. Our primary efforts involve church planting and discipleship. God has blessed us with three small churches, one is located at our home in the neighborhood of Tiloarque. The other church is about 15 minutes from our home in a neighborhood called Las Uvas. The third church is about an hour and a half from our home in a village called Las Delicias.
I am a graduate of Penn View Bible Institute located in Central Pennsylvania. I graduated in 2004 from the institute while I was also youth pastor at the Beavertown God's Missionary Church. I was married to Hannah Jarasat in June 2004. After spending three years as youth pastor, Hannah and I joined Hope International Missions and arrived in Honduras in 2006. We are blessed with two boys, Joseph and Daniel.